


Tailfins and Flipflops

by RockySilence



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Astronomy Keith, Coffee date, F/M, Fluff, M/M, Marine Biology Lance, aquarium, mermaid lance, modern day AU
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-07
Updated: 2020-05-12
Packaged: 2020-12-01 23:40:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,915
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20936822
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RockySilence/pseuds/RockySilence
Summary: Keith finds himself face to face with a pair of human eyes behind the glass pane of an aquarium.Keywords: Light-hearted, self-indulgent, fluffy





	1. Aquamarine

Keith took a double take, backtracking his steps. There it was again, that flash of shimmering blue. Now, he was absolutely sure that it was not some play of the bright sunshine drawing strange shapes on the rocks or his overactive imagination toying with him. There it was. The edge of what Keith thought seemed like a tailfin of some sort of large fish sticking out behind the pillar connecting two glass panes. He tried glancing behind that pillar, dodging left and right, trying both sides multiple times, but he could not see more than that sliver of a blue fin. He leaned closer once again, unwilling to give up, his cheek almost pressed to the glass and... blue eyes. 

A pair of aquamarine blue eyes robbed him of his breath. They appeared suddenly, peeking out from behind the pillar, staring straight into his. They crinkled at the corners, glinting with mischief and laughter as a stream of bubbles escaped the boy’s lips, caressing his cheeks and ruffling his hair as they rose shimmering towards the surface. Only for a moment, his gaze followed the bubbles before his attention returned to those wonderful eyes. The fact that he was staring into human eyes on the other side of the glass wall of an aquarium didn’t really register in Keith’s mind. He did not seem out of place. Those peculiar eyes were lined with some intricate drawings that spilled down the sides of his cheeks and over onto his temples. Every line in white and shades of blue from deep dark sapphire to the colour of spring skies. In places, they formed some geometrical shapes that kind of reminded him of scales. Scales that brought his thoughts back to that piece of blue fin. Keith’s eyes trailed down. Oh… 

He was facing the owner of the blue tailfin. He glanced back up, feeling his eyes wide comically. Another stream of bubbles escaped from the boy’s smiling lips and he winked before pushing against the glass and darting away to the other end of the aquarium, out of Keith’s sight. His feet were moving before he even realised, running after him, fingers lightly tracing the glass until it changed to concrete. Keith ran up the stairs, dodging people left and right with single minded focus as he circled around the great tank to get to the other side that was also lined with thick glass walls. He stumbled down another flight of stairs, taking two, even three steps at a time and came to a halt at the bottom. There he was, showing off graceful loops and somersaults, entertaining a handful of excited, squealing kids. Keith leaned against the wall behind him, staring unapologetically. The intricate drawings on his cheeks echoed on his arms, shoulders and back. The tail itself he swam around in so casually, shimmered in shades of light blue and a touch of white, complementing sun kissed toffee skin perfectly. The colours reminded him of the blue-green chromis fish he saw swimming around in one of the smaller marine reef tanks close to the entrance. A small shark swam by as the boy took another loop. Well, smallish shark. It was still a considerable size in Keith’s eyes. Dark grey back, sharp fins, white belly and menacing look. The boy dove underneath it with ease, swimming on his back a few paces in sync with the animal as he reached up and rubbed the nose of the shark. It slowed down, and Keith watched in silent amazement as the boy ran the tips of his fingers down the shark’s white belly all the way down to its tail where he grabbed it gently but quickly before the shark swam away and with a flick of his wrist, flipped the shark upside down, turning it over completely on its back. He playfully grinned at his awestruck audience as the shark froze, only its gills pumping lazily. It almost seemed harmless. Almost. Keith could see the rows of sharp teeth lined up in its slightly open mouth. The boy caressed, tickled and scratched the belly of the shark in a way others pampered their cats. The kids sticking to the glass were over the Moon and back. Even the parents were entertained. He soon let the shark go with one last hearty rub and it circled around him once before it swam away, passing Keith as it disappeared from sight. 

The boy with the toffee skin and shimmering tail of a mythical creature waved at his audience, bubbles tickling his lips as they rose in quick succession and he darted after them, up towards the surface with strong, powerful strokes of his tail, fin shaped like the crescent Moon. For a moment Keith stared after him. Dumb folded. His brain unable to comprehend why would he swim towards the surface when clearly, he belonged underneath it. His home the beautiful reef on display, his playful company a pet shark and the schools of hundreds of fish the colour of gemstones. The boy disappeared from his sight. Breathe. He needed to breathe. Take a fresh breath. The thought hit him, and Keith felt utterly silly. Of course, he swam up, he must have been under the water for minutes. Which was a pretty impressive feat if he thought about it a bit more. Keith ended up plastered to the glass again at some point and now slid down against it, sitting on the narrow bench underneath. The kids and their parents packed up and left, the small crowds of people slowly drifted away and up the stairs, but Keith remained where he was, leaning against the glass, watching schools of fish swim by, moving like they were performing a sophisticatedly choreographed ballet. 

He heard a muffled splash from above and the fish dispersed fast as lightning as a curtain of bubbles covered everything. For a moment, Keith was blinded by the bubble cloud but as soon as it started to clear up a familiar, lithe shape of a playful merman came gliding into view gracefully. He took a loop in front of him, showing off his arching back and the intricate patterns decorating it. From the waist down, his skin was replaced by blue scales. Following the line of his spine ran a protrusion all the way down that bore the darkest of blues and kind of looked like the evolutionary remnants of a dorsal fin. The sight reminded him of the back of a dragon or some long forgotten prehistoric sea creature. It was so elegant and detailed, it looked as real as it possibly could and he wasn’t ashamed to admit that he was indeed fooled into thinking that he was actually facing a mythical creature. The boy dipped low, chest almost to the soft sand below as he curbed his turn and came up straight in front of Keith, palms pressed to the glass, showing off a confident, dimpled smile that left him breathless. Keith pressed a hand to the glass too without thinking and the smile got even wider, his beautiful eyes crinkling at the corners, small bubbles tickling his lips and cheeks as they rose up and up and out of sight. The boy swayed left and right, moving to a rhythm Keith couldn’t hear and tipped his head towards the reef before he pushed away from the glass to swim alongside it. Keith jumped up and followed with single minded determination, fingers tracing his form against the glass like he was under a spell. 

The boy swam with elaborate, lazy flips of his tail, twirling and twisting around, sometimes dipping all the way down to trace the soft sand with his fingers, leaving clouds of dust in the water that settled slowly. He kept an eye on him, looking sideways at Keith as they passed the whole length of the underground tunnel. At the end, the boy winked again and pointed up before he disappeared behind the wall and Keith sprinted up the stairs. The bright sunlight hurt his eyes after the gentle underwater glow of the tunnel and he felt disoriented for a long moment, looking around in confusion. He followed the line of the cordon he thought belonged to the same tank and soon it led him to an open area with a flat, smooth surface between decorative rocks. Sticking out of the shadow of one of the rocks he spotted an elbow. Keith quickened his pace and leaned over the cordon to see more. There he was, right in front of him. Chin set on his folded arms, shoulders rising and falling with deep breathes as he basked in the warm sunshine with a small smile on his lips. The boy cracked his eyes open as Keith’s shadow fell over him. They stared at each other for a long moment, Keith feeling the same way all over again when he first looked into those unbelievably beautiful blue eyes. Simply bewitched. 

‘Even prettier than I thought’ the boy murmured, raising his head and rising out of the water a little further so he could lean out onto the rock surface on his elbows.

‘Huh?’ Keith asked back with some delay, his thoughts sluggish and slow to connect.

‘You. You are even prettier than I thought’ he smiled and Keith blushed, cheeks turning the exact shade of a bright red sea star.

‘What do you mean?’ he asked back.

‘Have you ever opened your eyes under water?’ Keith nodded hesitantly, trying to recall the last time he did that as a kid in a bathtub, but still at a loss of what he meant by it. ’It’s quite blurry down there’ the boy pointed vaguely behind his back. ‘I have to get my nose up to the glass to make out more than vague shapes.’

‘Oh’ Keith nodded, understanding now. ‘What did you do with the shark?’ he blurted it out suddenly and the boy laughed in surprise.

‘You saw that?’ Keith nodded, folding his arms on the railing and setting his chin on it, waiting for his explanation. ‘It’s called tonic immobility’ he smiled. ‘It can be achieved by flipping sharks on their backs. It puts them in a sort of relaxed, trance like state and contrary to popular belief, they kind of like being patted when they are in the mood.’ 

‘How do you know that?’

‘It’s easy, they keep coming back for more’ the boy smiled up at him, squinting against the bright sunlight. His hair sticking out in all directions of the compass. It was kind of cute. He scooted out of the water a little further and extended his hand, offering a dripping handshake. ‘I’m Lance, resident merman and trainee marine biologist at your service.’ Keith bent over the railing as far as he could, straining to reach his hand, trying to bridge that one-inch gap that still separated them by standing on his tiptoes, going as far as lifting a foot in the air. Lance pushed himself further out of the water and closed the distance.

‘Keith’ he murmured in return, briefly squeezing Lance’s cold, pruned fingers. He frowned when something hard pressed to his palm in passing as Lance broke the handshake, sinking back down into the water, now seemingly hiding behind the decorative rock on the side. Keith pulled back, holding onto the small object, flipping it over in his palm with the nail of his thumb. It was a tiny, blue seashell. He giggled under his breath. 

‘Even prettier with a smile’ he heard Lance rumble quietly and he looked down. His previous blush flared up, making even the tips of his ears burn. Maybe he could pass it off as a pesky sunburn? ‘Hey,’ he called out, waiting to continue until Keith met his eyes. ‘I swear I’ve never done this before, but… I-I have a break in an hour?’ Lance cleared his throat, his voice rising in an unsure question. ‘I also have unlimited free coffee pass at the best venue here, I promise you won’t regret it.’ Keith bit his lip, contemplating the offer. He’s never been invited to coffee by a handsome merman before. He’s never even been invited to coffee by anyone other than friends to be completely honest. Lance let loose of a stormy huff before he pushed away from the edge, trading the water with his arms. ‘Well, I’ve gotta swim, feed the sharks and collect some samples and other merman stuff so uhm… think about it?’ he raised his eyebrows in question, showing off a sweet dimple on one side. Hopeful. Keith nodded and the smile widened, his eyes glinting in the sunlight as he got further away and out of Keith’s shadow. ‘The place is called the Purple Octopus, just around the corner’ Lance pointed off to Keith’s right and waved before taking a number of deep breathes, seemingly swallowing air in gulps before ducking underwater, diving with a show of shimmering scales and playful splash of his tail. Keith laughed out loud to himself, still blushing furiously. He carefully pocketed the tiny seashell and raced off to find Shiro and Allura before his hour was up to let them know that he will be busy for a while exploring on his own and that they should go on to have lunch without him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If I put a smile on your face, this is what I need you to do: give me kudos, write me comments, consider visiting my Ko-fi page to support me with a cuppa! Thanks a bunch! - RS
> 
> https://ko-fi.com/rockysilence


	2. Amethyst

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning! (just in case)  
\- mentions of cruelty towards animals  
\- there are some underlying facts but the events discussed here are completely ficticious!
> 
> Be awesome, be kind, protect the environment!  
Give what you would like to get, because karma's a b***h and it reaches everyone at some point.
> 
> Enjoy!

Glancing at his watch every five minutes, Keith walked around the other exhibits to fill the remaining time, reading all the small information plaquettes he came across to distract himself. He learned a lot about the colouring of different warm and cold water fish, the eating habits of octopuses and rays and the sadly endangered state of the world’s coral reefs. There were also good news though. He read success stories of rehabilitated marine life in the nearby areas the Aquarium was in charge of protecting and about Ronnie the sea lion, injured by a speed boat illegally cruising through an endangered area. Ronnie was nurtured back to life by non-other than their resident merman and trainee marine biologist half a year ago who refused to give up on the injured creature. 

Keith watched the animal cruise around in the pool, twisting and turning and chasing a ball with two other sea lions. Fading scars aside, it seemed happy and healthy indeed. Glancing back at the information board, he noticed that at the bottom, there was a small picture of them together. The sea lion, looking a lot smaller than its current self, sitting in Lance’s lap, nuzzling his jaw as he laughed. It also advertised that there will be a public feeding of the sea lions just after three pm. Keith made a mental note, trying not to forget, suspecting he will, as his head was still buzzing with the initial surprise, budding excitement and now jittery anticipation as the hour hand got closer and closer to noon. He was a good ten minutes early, but Keith couldn’t help loitering around the terrace of the coffee house. 

He sat on a bench in clear view, watching the people come and go or staring into the small pond behind him. It was mainly populated by fresh water lilies parading in pretty pale pinks and cheerful purples, the middle of all bright yellow. He even noticed a couple of orange goldfish cruising around just below the surface. Something hit his shoulder. Keith’s head shot up, looking around with an angry frown, expecting to see a handful of kids maybe who wanted to make a fool of him, but there was no one around. Well, no one who even looked his way. Someone whistled and he felt another sting against his shoulder. A small pebble cluttered onto the bench beside him and he looked in the direction he suspected the projectile came from. By the edge of the coffee house, hiding in the shadows there was a guy with a towel hanging around his neck and a baseball cap pulled into his face, waving at him. He threw another pebble and it landed by Keith’s feet. He stood and walked over, trying not to look too suspicious as he passed by the side of the terrace that wasn’t really part of the walking area. Lance greeted him with a wide grin, pushing the baseball cap with the Aquarium’s logo on it out of his eyes.

‘Hey, you came!’ he whispered enthusiastically. This time he had legs, Keith noted, glancing down at his wet flipflops and colourful swim trunks patterned with hibiscus flowers.

‘I have’ Keith murmured, frowning up at him, contemplating whether to turn around and walk away, still feeling a bit offended by the pebble thing. When he noticed Keith’s glare, Lance dropped the handful of decorative rocks he still held in one hand and dusted his palms on his swim trunks.

‘I… uh, sorry about the pebbles, I’ve been trying to grab your attention for a while, but you seemed to be more interested in the pond’ he laughed quietly, a hand going up to scratch at the back of his head.

‘Why didn’t you just walk up to me?’ Keith asked, a little confused and a little embarrassed at hiding behind a wall.

‘I couldn’t, there are too many kids around’ Lance explained.

‘Huh?’

‘I’m not supposed to walk around like this’ Lance pointed at the blue markings around his eyes and on his shoulders that were visible, ‘it ruins the magic if the kids see the merman walking around in flipflops on his break.’ Oh, that kind of made sense. Keith felt his scowl melting away. Lance looked relieved.

‘Why didn’t you put on a shirt?’

‘Can’t, it tends to rub off the paint and I still have two hours on merman duty. My makeup artist is only here in the morning and she almost drowned me the last time she had to be called back to fix me up’ he smiled sheepishly and Keith laughed quietly until Lance pouted. ‘You have any idea how long it takes to get this stuff on my skin every morning?’

‘No, I don’t’ he chuckled. ‘But it looks good’ he admitted, clearing his throat and looking away, hiding his burning cheeks.

‘Thanks’ Lance beamed. ‘Now, I have about twenty-five minutes left’ he glanced at his watch,’ so how about that coffee? We can sit at the employees table at the back. What would you like?’ he asked, leading Keith further away from the public area and behind the building where indeed there was a small wooden table with two benches under the shade of an umbrella.

‘Uhm, something cold would be nice. Do they serve iced coffee here?’ Lance nodded.

‘That would have been my suggestion,’ he winked. ‘Have a seat, I’ll be right back.’ Lance disappeared behind an Employees Only door and Keith sat gingerly on the edge of the bench, leaning on the table, wringing his hands. He couldn’t deny being a little nervous about all this. Lance seemed like a nice guy and although he had very limited experiences in anything deemed remotely romantic, Keith thought that one would not go out of their way to make a stranger, especially a guy, laugh and invite them for coffee if they weren’t at least a little bit interested, right? Or maybe he was this social with everyone? It was kind of his job after all. But he did say that he’s never done this before. Could he have lied? Keith’s thoughts were running wild and spiralling into those pesky “what if…” scenarios that made him doubt his luck so far. He usually kept his preferences rather quiet, but at the tank he was just so mesmerised it haven’t even registered in his mind that he was acting all giddy and blushing left and right. Now that he was actually here, waiting for Lance to bring their order around, he wasn’t really sure all of a sudden whether this was such a good idea after all. He contemplated leaving, but that would be rather rude, even by his standards.

‘Hey’ Lance opened the door, walking backwards like a crab, the baseball cap now turned with the shield to the side, carrying two tall glasses. The ice chimed gently as he placed them on the table before taking the seat opposite. The cold glasses started perspiring in the heat right away. ‘Sorry it took so long, quite busy inside. The good weather brings in lots of customers.’

‘It’s fine’ Keith smiled weakly, pulling one of the glasses in front of him. Lance looked rather funny in that hat. He seemed to have realised too because he took it off and placed it on the edge of the table by his elbow. His hair was even more ridiculous. Some areas sticking out like he stuck his fingers in a light socket, others squashed flat against his scalp by the hat. He couldn’t help the small laugh escaping him. This time, genuine.

‘Yeah, I know’ Lance sighed, running a hand through his still wet hair. It only made matters worse. ‘Salt water does funny things to my hair.’

‘And the hat’ Keith supplied.

‘And the hat’ Lance agreed, sipping his coffee. ‘So, change of topic. What brings you to our wonderful sea world? Day off with friends? Family trip? Date?’

‘Kind of a mix of all’ Keith answered vaguely and lifted his glass to avoid sharing more. Lance was right, the coffee was worth it. He did not seem awfully happy with his answer, Keith could tell, but he let it go.

‘First time here?’

‘Yep.’

‘Planning on visiting again?’

‘Maybe.’

‘Just maybe?’ 

‘The coffee’s nice’ Keith smiled.

‘Only the coffee?’ Lance pouted.

‘I’ve also met this cute fella called Ronnie, he left quite an impression’ Lance laughed.

‘So, you met my beautiful girl?’

‘Girl?’ Keith frowned.

‘Yep, people tend to assume otherwise, but Ronnie’s short for Veronica. She’s just as sassy as my sister, so the name choice was obvious.’

‘Was it really as bad as the display said?’ Lance’s smile turned into an angry frown as he ducked his head.

‘Yeah’ he admitted, stirring his coffee, making the ice chime against the glass. ‘Even worse, actually. We left out the fact that it was most likely intentional.’

‘Intentional?’ Keith asked back, confused.

‘Not everybody likes sea lions. They occasionally bite some lone swimmers, usually idiots who disregard our displayed warnings to stay away from their territory. And, those idiots are always the ones with the loudest of mouths. It raises bad press and there are some very horrible people who leave loose fishing lines and abandoned nets everywhere and judging from the injuries we see regularly, we suspect that they make a sport out of chasing around sea lions and other species with speed boats, not caring if they get them entangled or run over them in the process. Ronnie’s is a success story because she is a young, lucky survivor, but unfortunately, not the first case. There’s regular police patrol in the area and even more displayed warnings since Ronnie, but we still find newer and newer nets, empty as well as occupied, and the culprits are still loose’ Lance sighed, shaking his head lightly, probably to chase away haunting images. ‘Sorry for ruining the mood’ he apologised, looking Keith in the eyes at last with a weak smile that retreated almost right away, ‘kind of a touchy topic for me.’

‘Ronnie’s right, idiots deserve to be chewed on.’

‘Thanks’ Lance smiled again, sadly, and they continued sipping their coffee in silence for a little while, letting their thoughts settle. ‘So, what are your plans for the afternoon? There are some great exhibits I can recommend if you haven’t seen them already.’

‘We’ve arrived just after opening, I think I hit up every point on the map’ Keith hummed.

‘We?’ Lance raised an eyebrow, fishing for information. Keith narrowed his eyes in contemplation, staring into his wide baby blues. His silence probably stretched too far, because Lance cleared his throat, glancing down at his coffee. ‘Never mind, you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to’ he offered a smile, glancing back up, sipping his drink.

‘Me, my brother and a friend of ours who recently ended up as his girlfriend as it turned out at the dinner table yesterday.’

‘Oh, now I get it!’ Lance laughed, his good mood returning. ‘So, it is indeed a day off with a friend, a family trip and probably a date for them all in one.’

‘Told you so’ Keith smirked.

‘Phew… I was worried it was your date.’

‘If it was my date, why would I be hiding behind a building, drinking coffee with the resident merman and trainee marine biologist of all people?’

‘Who knows? Maybe you had a small fight and had to vent for someone. You did look kind of lonely sitting alone in the observation tunnel for so long before I started playing catch with you.’

‘Playing catch… You were baiting me on purpose?’ Keith frowned, remembering the image of shimmering scales always in the corner of his eyes. Lance shrugged with a sheepish smile.

‘I get bored too, you know. The kids are too easy to play around with, you were a challenge’ Keith huffed, but couldn’t help a small smile. ‘It’s been a while I could catch someone truly amazed by what they saw behind the glass.’

‘Well, congratulations, you made a complete fool of me’ Keith hummed.

‘It was not my intention to make a fool of you’ Lance shook his head quickly. ‘And I sincerely apologise if I made you feel like one. I just wanted to cheer you up and give you a little bit of wonder to take home and maybe come back for.’

‘I guess that also worked’ he admitted quietly, hiding behind his raised glass.

‘I’m happy if it did’ Lance agreed, his beautiful eyes crinkling at the corners with his smile.

‘Was it good enough to bring you back?’ he raised an eyebrow.

‘Maybe’ Keith evaded, fishing out an ice cube and chewing on it noisily. Lance sighed.

‘You’re not going to make this easy, are you?’ Keith shrugged in return.

‘If I did, we wouldn’t be having coffee right now.’

‘Possible’ Lance chuckled. ‘I’m glad we are though.’

‘I think so too. How much longer do you have?’

‘Let’s see…’ Lance checked his watch. ‘Uhm, eight minutes. Time flies, huh?’

‘Must be the coffee’s fault’ Keith murmured, half-joking, fishing out another melting piece of ice with his spoon from his otherwise empty glass.

‘Would you like another one?’

‘I’m good, thanks’ Keith refused politely, unwilling to waste their time by letting him stand in line for another.

‘So, you know where I work and what I do and other whatnots. Can you give me something too?’ Keith crushed another ice cube between his teeth with an audible crunch and took his time chewing.

‘I’m a student.’

‘What do you study?’

‘Astronomy’ he admitted, watching Lance carefully.

‘Sounds interesting’ he hummed in reply.

‘Most people say it’s useless.’ 

‘Do you think it’s useless?’ Keith shook his head. ‘Then it’s not useless’ Lance declared with a shrug. ‘The stars are just as interesting as the depths of the ocean. There are hundreds if not thousands of deep-sea life species still unidentified and I imagine there are plenty uncharted celestial bodies lying around for you to explore. I think we both choose wisely.’ Lance’s answer was a drop of fresh water after what felt like a very long draught. Other than Shiro, as much a space geek as Keith himself, and the actual people on his course, no one has ever had a good word about his choice. They all say it is useless and stupid. There are plenty options on Earth, why wasn’t he satisfied with their very own dirtball? “You should look down before you look up” they often said, mocking, trying to sound funny but it always came off as bitter and hostile to his ears. 

‘Wise or not, I’m stuck with it until I graduate’ Keith shrugged, trying to close the topic as he swung a leg to the other side of the bench, ready to get up.

‘Uhm… before you go. Here’s my ahm…. number?’ Lance placed a business card face down on the table, showing the hastily scribbled numbers on the back. ‘Call me or just text me or something… I mean, only if you want to that is, of course…’ Lance mumbled, scratching the back of his head, pulling on his messy locks. Keith paused to pick up the card, examining both sides carefully, reading his full name and studying the logo of the aquarium before glancing at his handwriting. Numbers slim and tall but curvy at the bottom and leaning slightly to the right. He tapped the edge of the card on the table multiple times, fixing his gaze on its previous owner, contemplating the offer. Lance stood up and Keith followed. ‘Well, I’ve gotta get going, still have to get back in my tail and my time is up so…’

‘Thanks for the coffee’ Keith smiled up at him at last and Lance swallowed, walking around the table and nodding vigorously.

‘No problem, I’m glad if you enjoyed it’ he smiled back brightly. ‘And I hope to hear from you’ he added, grinning. ‘You know, you actually took my breath away down there. I had to come up rather early.’

‘Early? You’ve been down there for ages. Do you actually have gills or something?’ Lance broke out in a good-hearted laugh.

‘No, unfortunately I don’t, but I’ve been free diving since I was a kid so it’s not that difficult.’

‘So how long can you actually stay underwater?’

‘Well, it kind of depends on how much I move around and some other stuff, but my average is around eight minutes.’

‘Wow’ Keith hummed softly, honestly impressed. Lance shrugged with a sheepish smile, hands stuffed in his pockets, a gentle blush making his skin glow. Keith pushed his empty glass away, back toward the middle. Neither a drop nor an ice cube left, only the impression of dried foam staining the rim. He had a thing for licking even that clean when he was alone, but that would have been a little awkward, so the foam will have to go to waste this one time. ‘Thanks for the coffee’ he repeated it again, just to fill the stretching silence.

‘Don’t mention it’ Lance waved, pinching the glasses together to pick both up in one hand.

‘Uhm… have a nice day, I guess’ Keith mumbled, shuffling his feet. Goodbyes were never his bread and butter.

‘Yeah, you too. Enjoy the aquarium!’ Keith laughed.

‘I will.’

‘Oh, I just remembered, the sea lions will be fed at three. Ronnie just learned some new tricks, so it will be a good show, I can guarantee it, my girl’s a born superstar!’ Keith smiled, nodding.

‘I will drop by.’

‘Okay, good...’

‘Lance?’

‘Yes?’

‘Tick-tock.’

‘I’m going, I’m going’ he snickered, putting his hat back on and backing away from the table towards the Employees Only door slowly, one hand holding their empty glasses, the other grabbing the ends of the towel hanging around his neck with a sheepish grin. Lance refused to break eye contact so Keith did so with a huff, stuffing his fists in his pockets along with Lance’s card. He turned his back at last, walking away, back towards the visitors’ area.

‘Hey, Mullet!’ he stopped in his tracks, frowning back over his shoulder.

‘I don’t have a mullet!’

‘Sure you don’t… Anyway, I know a great place, seafood is first class!’ Keith turned away, hiding his smile as he kept walking, raising a hand to wave shortly before rounding the corner. His face was burning and his heart was beating in his throat as he stopped to lean against the side of the building, punching the scrawny numbers on the card into his phone with clumsy fingers. He took a couple minutes to collect himself, waiting for his silly heart to return to beating at a normal pace before re-joining the slowly gathering crowd drifting out of the food venues and cafes to continue sightseeing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If I put a smile on your face, this is what I need you to do: give me kudos, write me comments and consider visiting my Ko-fi page to support me with a cuppa! Thanks a bunch! - RS
> 
> https://ko-fi.com/rockysilence


	3. Pezzottaite

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Allura-Shiro thing...  
I kinda jotted the first draft for this story before the reveal bits came along and decided to leave it as it is...  
Either way, Love is Love and who cares about the details.

He stopped at a small stand to get a sandwich and kept strolling around, revisiting his favourite points on the map, doing his best to avoid the one exhibit he really wanted to see again. His feet had a mind of its own though and he found himself slowly walking down the steps and into the observation tunnel half an hour before the merman was supposed to retire for the day. From the shadow of a pillar he watched Lance cruising around and showing off, leaving kids laughing, young mothers blushing and teenage girls squealing, all glued to the glass left and right, trying to take pictures and loudly complaining about Lance blurring out in all as he refused to stay in one place. Keith was secretly happy about their misfortune but tried not to think too hard about it. Karma might come and bite him if he did. Lance kept going up for air every now and then and at some point, he did not come back. Keith glanced at his watch. Five past two. He left the observation tunnel, passing the noisy teenagers bouncing in place, still waiting, hoping the magic will return. Keith did not bother to tell them otherwise. In the sun, he took a seat on a nearby bench, squinting at his phone, contemplating what to write, but deciding to hold off on sending anything just yet. He liked that Lance offered his number instead of asking for one. He liked that the choice to make contact was his and not the other way around. 

He ran into Shiro and Allura as the hour was getting closer to three and they joined him on his way to the sea lions’ pools. They took a seat on the raised platform, Keith squashed in between the two lovebirds as Shiro caught him in the loop of his elbow and Allura followed after them, stopping to buy three cups of diced, chilled fruit form a nearby vendor before settling on Keith’s other side, sharing her purchases. Shiro left his arm around his neck, but Keith soon had enough and shook it off gently. It was hot, his metal arm was heavy and they all needed both hands to eat anyway. 

A decent crowd gathered, phones and cameras held at the ready, everyone waiting for the entertainment to begin. It was no surprise to Keith that Lance was one of the keepers who came to feed the lions and put on a little show for the audience. His eyes swept through the crowd, missing Keith at first before their eyes met at last and Lance waved at him enthusiastically. Keith blushed, ducking his head and staring into his diced fruit cup. The wave could have been for the whole crowed if not for Lance’s intense stare boring into him.

‘You know each other?’ Shiro asked conversationally and Keith flinched. That show-off. Was it so much to ask for a bit of subtlety?

‘Nope’ the lie left his lips before he even considered the possibility of telling the truth. Bad habit. 

He looked up cautiously. Lance grinned at him before turning away at last to actually attend to the show. Together with the big guy he came in with they lined up the sea lions, introducing them one after the other, each lion performing various actions on command in return for fish. The last in line Ronnie, where Lance paused, briefly summarising the history behind her visible scars and urging the audience to please take care of wildlife. By the time he was done with talking, Ronnie was getting impatient, slapping Lance’s calf with her fin repeatedly, mouthing off insolently and nosing at Lance’s gloved hand cleverly holding a dead fish in a way she couldn’t just take it from his grip without working for it. Kids giggled and parents laughed at her antics and Lance’s comical outage at her impatience. Even the other keeper was having a good time even though he must be seeing this almost every day. Done talking, both of them now had a small silver whistle between their teeth, blowing different combination of chirps that the sea lions performed to. Lance was not bragging when he claimed it will be a good show. It was versatile and funny, occasionally interrupted with short speeches by either him or Hunk, as the other keeper introduced themselves, sharing interesting facts and stories about their particular friends and of sea lions in general. The show was over in a good half an hour, the keepers and the sea lions waving goodbye at last. Lance again, seemed to be seeking him out with his eyes. He smiled at him and Keith turned away with a smirk and an eyeroll, making it quite a visible eyeroll for Lance to catch the message. He did, judging by his laugh before disappearing behind another Employees Only door. The only problem with that show of an eyeroll was, that Shiro had a pretty decent view of it too.

‘Soooo’ he dragged out, not moving from the bench just yet, and his arm settled on Keith’s shoulder anew, keeping him in place while people shuffled around them. ‘Who’s your friend again?’

‘No one’ he snapped.

‘Lance, huh’ Shiro hummed and Keith cursed the stupid introductions.’ So, while we were off sightseeing with Allura, you were chatting up pretty surfer boys who happen to be working with injured sea lions?’ Snap. Goes the prongs of the flimsy plastic fork in Keith’s grip as he jammed it into the bottom of the cup to get his last piece of fruit. The melon cube now had plastic sticking out of it, but it came to be no closer to his mouth.

‘I wasn’t’ he huffed, leaning forward on his knees to avoid eye contact, abandoned cup dangling between his fingers. Allura hummed a soft, quiet tune under her breath, pretending to be engrossed in her phone and giving them the illusion of privacy, but Keith knew her ears were trained on their conversation. Technically, he wasn’t lying this time. It was more like staring him down than chatting him up… Not that that made the situation any different. ‘Can we go now?’

‘You have a date to rush to?’ He bared his teeth at Shiro. ‘Okay, fine, no more questions’ he backed off with a smirk, ‘just be at the car by five.’ Shiro ruffled his hair and stood to stretch. ‘Allura? Anything else you want to see?’

‘Uh, the sea stars!’ she sprung up, eyes sparkling. ‘I wanna touch the sea stars again.’

‘Kiddie pool, here we come’ murmured Shiro, stepping over Keith with one last smirk to follow Allura hopping along the pavement before he lost sight of her in the crowd.

Keith remained on the empty bench, surrounded by abandoned cups and drink cans that stupid people left lying around despite just listening to a ‘Please protect your environment’ pep talk. Lance and his colleagues sure had their work cut out for them. Keith grimaced at the sight. He sat where he was, watching the sea lions pop out of the water every now and then until he couldn’t bear the direct sunlight boiling his head anymore. He stood with the intention of finding shade at last. He collected a couple loose cans on his way up the stairs and dumped them into the garbage a few meters from the benches. A few meters, it would have been on their way even. The ridiculous stupidity of the situation made him snarl at the pavement.

‘Wow, did I make you that angry?’ his head snapped to the left, following the soft voice, eyes zeroing in on the brave soul daring to interrupt his rage. Lance stood at a respectable distance, both hands occupied by quickly melting iced coffee from the Purple Octopus.

‘Aren’t you supposed to be working?’ Lance flinched at his tone, taking a step backwards.

‘Uhm, yeah… Never mind’ he murmured, backing away, shoulders hunched, neck drawn in. Keith regretted snapping at him.

‘Is that for me?’ he pointed at one of the cups, making an effort to soften his voice.

‘If you want it?’ Lance squeaked. 

‘Is it mine or is it not?’

‘Yours!’ he corrected himself fast and Keith reached out a hand for it, crooking his fingers impatiently. Lance handed him the cold glass carefully and Keith tuned on his heel, gravitating towards the shadow under a nearby tree.

‘Coming or not?’ he called back, taking a sip of his blessedly cold drink and noted with relief the sound of shuffled footsteps catching up. He perched sideways on top of a flat decorative stone keeping the grass in line and away from the walkway and looked pointedly at another stone, raising an eyebrow. Lance sat promptly, blinking at him warily. His face now free of makeup, wearing work issued steel-toed safety boots and the uniform dark-blue T-shirt and pants he has seen other staff walk around in. He had an ID badge hung around his neck, the card was out of sight, stuffed into his shirt pocket. Keith took another leisurely sip, sighing with relief. Lance on the other hand sat stiffly, one leg drawn up, the bottom of his glass resting on the side of his boot and his fingers were tapping away on the edge nervously.

‘So, uhm. Did I make you angry? I’m really sorry about that wave. I didn’t think that through, I just realised afterwards. You didn’t want your brother to know, right? So stupid of me.’ Keith frowned.

‘I’m not angry at you’ he stated calmly.

‘You‘re not?’ Lance asked back cautiously. ‘You sure?’

‘You want me to be angry at you?’

‘Heck no!’ he shook his head vehemently.

‘Just stupid people, pissing me off.’

‘What stupid people?’ Lance prompted delicately.

‘Garbage people’ Keith huffed, stirring his coffee and making the ice chime.

‘Okay’ Lance nodded, eyes still round with wonder. ‘What can I do against stupid garbage people?’ Keith levelled him with a gaze. Trying to keep his expression stony while his insides melted to goo with a whiny awww. Was this guy really this cluelessly selfless and cute? And he wanted to spend time with him? Some of his wires must be crossed somewhere.

‘Nothing’ he jammed his spoon down to the bottom of the glass at last. ‘You already did what you could’ Lance blinked, just as clueless, but let the topic go.

‘Okay. So, not mentioning my stupid awkward wave, did you guys enjoy the show?’

‘It was good’ nodded Keith, lifting his coffee for another long sip, letting the cold liquid rest on his tongue for a moment before swallowing. Lance smiled brightly, shoulders squaring out briefly before he caught himself and curbed his enthusiasm. He cleared his throat and looked away, drinking his coffee to occupy the silence.

‘Why are you here exactly?’ Keith asked, suspicion dripping. Lance coughed shortly, lowering his glass.

‘Well, ahm, just saw you stay behind and you kind of looked down and not even the sea lions goofing around made you smile, so I thought, maybe coffee?’ Lance chattered fast.

‘Thanks’ Keith murmured.

‘It’s nothing’ Lance waved with a goofy smile, the hand not holding his glass travelling up to nervously pull at the hair at his nape before dropping into his lap again to tap on his boot. Keith rested his glass on the stone in the crook of his knee and pulled his phone out. Lance looked away from his screen politely, staring at the few people passing by leisurely in the distance. A sudden buzzing sound interrupted them and Lance’s hand instantly went to his pocket while Keith put his phone away, returning to his coffee and to eyeing Lance expectantly.

‘Wasn’t that your phone?’

‘It can wait’ he waved, pulling his hand away.

‘What if it’s your boss? Maybe they saw you slacking off?’

‘I asked before I came here’ Lance huffed. ‘I’m not that irresponsible.’

‘You sure? Not checking important messages sounds pretty irresponsible to me.’

‘Damn you, Mullet, how on Earth would you know if it’s important or not?’ Lance snapped at last, patience running short, waving his hands around and Keith lifted the last of his coffee in a futile attempt to hide his now way too visible smirk. The wind disappeared from Lance’s sails on cue. ‘Oh.’ Keith lifted an expectant eyebrow, glancing at Lance’s pocket. ‘Oh, okay’ he cleared his throat, almost knocking his empty glass over as he leaned back to access the pocket at his hip. Keith was kind enough to take the empty glass away and place it on the grass at a respectable distance from flaying limbs before he returned to watch Lance closely as he fished for his phone and fiddled with it with a slight tremor in those long fingers. Lance’s shoulders and face dropped at last in disbelief. ‘Really?!’ he almost yelled, spreading his arms in comical disbelief. ‘You have foam on your face?’ he read it out loud, questioning Keith’s ingenuity. He was cackling now, holding his stomach as he watched Lance wiping at his mouth and flaming cheeks thoroughly with his forearm. ‘Really? You couldn’t have told me that sooner? And, like, in actual words?’ Keith kept laughing, not even remembering the last time he had such a good laugh. ‘Fine, laugh it off already. Laugh it off.’ Lance folded his arms, turning away in mock resentment.

‘Come on, it was so funny!’ Keith sniffled, wiping at the corners of his eyes, taking a deep breath to rein in his laughter but as soon as their gazes met, he started giggling anew like a broken kettle. Lance smirked, his posture loosening up as he shook his head with a shy smile, cheeks still rosy.

‘What am I gonna do with you, Mullet?’

‘Take me to this nifty restaurant, you know, where seafood is first class last I heard?’ he grinned with sudden bravery.

‘Oh, yeah’ Lance nodded along, ‘I’m gonna wipe that annoying smirk off your face!’ he swore, watching Keith as he was overtaken by another wave of hysterical laughter. He wasn’t even sure anymore what he was laughing at, but Lance joined him soon enough, talking his ear off with stupid jokes and tall-tales, and time passed. It passed so delightfully fast and invisible, that the next thing he knows, Keith is running like a lunatic across the empty parking lot towards the only car still standing there, barely making it through the gates without getting locked inside as no guard noticed the two idiots laughing their asses off below a tree earlier, or maybe Lance had some really good friends who conveniently decided to turn a blind eye. Either way, Keith yanked the door open, climbing into the back seat with as much grace as he could muster, trying to rein in his breathing to appear nonchalant as he shut the door with maybe a tad bit more force than necessary and clicked his seatbelt in place with shaky hands.

‘Oh, he arrives’ Shiro smiled smugly, eyeing him in the rear-view mirror.

‘Shut up!’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The End. Or is it? I've kinda grown attached to this piece of fluff. Might change my mind and add some more chapters.  
What do you think? Want more?
> 
> If I put a smile on your face, this is what I need you to do: give me kudos, write me comments, consider visiting my Ko-fi page to support me with a cuppa! Thanks a bunch! - RS
> 
> https://ko-fi.com/rockysilence


	4. Ruby

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back in the saddle with a short and sweet one to build up some anticipation for what I have lined up for you next ;)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer:  
\- a few choice words here and there. Whoopsie.  
\- some hints at mental health and prescription drug abuse
> 
> The candy thing... yes, that did happen to me... *still embarrassed*

Impatience incarnate, Keith drummed his fingers on the tabletop. The little red light drove him absolutely crazy. At times, it was instant gratification. Being fed sickeningly sweet marshmallows by the bucket. Other times, it was scraps from the dinner table. Scarce like desert rainfall at best. Worst still, there was neither reason, nor rhyme in the frequency at which that little ruby light started blinking. None. At. All. It drove him nuts. Sometimes, the little light was blinking by the minute, other times it stayed dark for over two days. He carried his phone around like a teddy bear, always within arm’s reach, eyes periodically checking for that tantalising flash of ruby. This time around, he was even more antsy than usual. They were discussing plans. Actual dinner plans. And Lance disappeared an hour ago. Mid conversation… 

Keith did his best to occupy himself. He had plenty of coursework. Windows atop windows and journal pages upon journal pages opened on his desktop and notes scattered on his desk. Not that he could focus beyond five minutes, but he tried his hardest to fill time in a productive manner. Emphasis on the fact that he tried. Success, like the ruby light, was absent. It did not help that his mind kept playing back bits and pieces of messages that he re-read so many times he knew them by heart.

“Lance Mc: Hey pretty, how was your day?” – He liked dealing out nicknames. Keith liked receiving them.

“Lance Mc: Look what I found!” – He liked sending silly memes. Keith laughed himself silly more often than he dared to admit even to himself.

“Lance Mc: Really? You won again? Wow, you are so cool babe, so cool!” – His praise came warm and genuine every single time. Keith shared his achievements eagerly now.

“Lance Mc: Check out this new track I just finished recording! Think you’re gonna love it!” – He was a musician. Keith always had a thing for musicians…

“Lance Mc: You mentioned that book the other day. Look! I found a copy for you. Who’s the coolest, huh?” – He was attentive. Keith was a sucker for attention.

He shook his head hard, inky locks flying all around the place. He reached up with both hands to smooth his hair back, clutching onto his slightly overgrown locks in frustration before letting go with a deep breath. Concentrate. Concentrate. Patience yields focus. Patience yields focus. If Shiro ever figures out that he actually started using his silly wisdom, he will have the laugh of the century. Keith did not plan on letting him know. Ever. He’s been making fun of Shiro for too long to crack and admit now that there might be something worthwhile in brief meditative focus exercises. He went back to working on writing his upcoming submission.

An hour and a skinny paragraph later, he lifted his coffee mug. Anticipation fell short anew as nothing but a cold drop rolled lazily onto his tongue. He stood, circled his neck, reached for the ceiling and shuffled to the kitchen for a refill. Phone, for the first time in days, forgotten on the table. Regardless, while waiting on his fresh brew, the last two messages drifted around in his head.

“Lance Mc: Hey pretty, I have Saturday off. Still up for killer seafood?”

“Keith K: Yes, I am. When? This Saturday?” – Was he too sudden? Too eager?

This Saturday was coming up as of tomorrow. And Keith wanted to be clear already on whether he had, or not had plans for tomorrow after all. Glancing at the clock, he noted with a sigh that it was time to get ready for his afternoon lecture.

He arrived half an hour early and made a beeline towards the library to pick up the book he requested to be kept on hold ages ago. It was a popular textbook with two few copies available and he was eager to finally get his turn for a couple days, hoping that this particular resource will give his essay the spark it needed. After a brief encounter at student services, he had his prized possession hidden securely, bag stretching taught with the sudden weight. It was not a leisure reading kind of volume. 

On his way out, Keith noticed a transparent bucket on the counter filled with colourful pockets and he automatically changed course to head towards it. Candy. The campus, especially the library, was sometimes littered with freebies. Lollipops, key fobs, pizza cutters, beer openers, other small knickknacks put out in boxes and buckets by the student association or some society. It was common occurrence. He reached into the bucket filled with colourful wrappers and pulled out a rainbow one. The realisation downed in on him two steps later, almost causing him to fall over his own feet. Not candy. The inside of the pocket was squishy... Not candy! Not fucking candy! He could just feel the tell-tale ring… So not fucking candy! Keith quickly hid the colourful pocket behind the phone in his hand and walked away as fast as he could. So. Not. Candy. God, he hoped no one saw him reach into that bucket so eagerly. He took the wrong exit out, stopped confused and pulled aside to stuff the damn thing into his bag before anyone noticed it was in his hand. The ‘not so candy’ now in the bag, the zipper jammed halfway, both sides gaping open. Neither back, nor forward. Fun-fucking-tastic. Keith started walking, successfully taking another wrong turn, backtracking to the lobby and with his head low, escaping down the right corridor at last. People must think he is crazy.

Well into his class, his head was still cartwheeling with his ‘so not candy’ inner monologue. It was stupid. So stupid. He was an adult. Why was he so frickin flustered by - accidentally! - walking up to a bucket of condoms and taking one? It was there for the taking anyway. Yet, his face was still burning and his bag that was still gaping wide open felt ominously heavy as it leaned against his calf under the table. It was utterly ridiculous. What was even more ridiculous, is that the smirk of a certain half-fish trainee marine biologist kept popping up in his mind while he did his best to stomp out each and every stupid thought going in that direction. Denial, like gasoline to fire. The more he tried not to think, the more he thought. And the more he thought, the more obsessed he became with the purging of those thoughts. Fight against an army of windmills. Forcing his hand to take notes helped keep at least half his brain on track but the rest was in the garbage. He was so absorbed in his fight against his imaginary whirlwind of thoughts that he even failed to notice the flash of ruby pulsing confidently by his hand. Probably for the better, he noted after class. If he realised sooner, he would not have notes at all right now. Keith pulled aside on the corridor and opened his new message with a slight tremor in his fingers.

“Shiro: Hi, bring apples, cinnamon and honey on your way back. Thanks.” – Disappointment.

Keith cursed. Unbelievable. This was utterly ridiculous. He turned into an addict. Ridiculous. Keith jammed his phone into his jacket pocket, fingers twisting and tightening around it like a vice in his frustration. He vowed not to answer the damn thing for the rest of the day. He broke his vow two steps later when he felt a pulse of vibration rattle the delicate bones of his phalanges. His phone was out of his pocket before he thought twice about it and he blamed the past days’ conditioning for falling so seamlessly.

“Lance Mc: Yup, this very Saturday. How about 2pm at…” – Keith was not outright familiar with the address, but he figured Shiro’s GPS could handle it if he borrowed the car. 

Now, the million-dollar question. Does he answer? And does he answer now? Keith was in utter turmoil. He’s been so pissed off these past couple days about Lance’s infrequent contact manners that he really wanted to just give a bit of his own medicine back. On second thought, if he did not answer right away, he was afraid Lance might just miss his answer and won’t show up tomorrow. Unrealistic, but his brain was in a frenzy and anything seemed possible right now. Even worse, if he answered right away, that would just reinforce how god damn desperate he was. He had no good answer to his dilemma. When in doubt, procrastinate. Ostrich politics it is. He pocketed his phone angrily and went to take care of Shiro’s grocery run. Something to do. Something he could accomplish right now. It was silly, but small achievements like these made him feel better. Gave him a bit of control back over his restless thoughts.

To Shiro, it was no secret that Keith had on occasion issues with obsessing over events and details. Once confronted, he officially admitted it to Shiro with great reluctance. Keith hated discussing his faults and he was more than ashamed of having such an obvious dent in his psyche, but, Shiro was Shiro. He listened, he thought and then he got to working out a plan on how to manage it best right away. He did not chastise or question Keith or his sanity. He accepted the situation the way it was and adapted to his needs. It was a revolutionary experience. It was a miracle to Keith and he marveled over the fact ever since that such a person existed in the known universe.

They, mainly Shiro, devised the perfect system and ever since then, they made it work. They made it work and Keith’s episodes of obsessive-compulsive fixation were now mild, few and far between and directed towards productive goals like not stopping until he finished his training session, his essay, or hunted down a hard to come by book. When he got too hyper, despite precautions, Shiro gave him a firm nudge in a different direction, diverting his course of thought and forcing him to refocus and take perspective. Keith was not known to react to said nudges lightly. He fought and hissed and cursed and spit like a rattlesnake hooked on Adderall with his fix denied. He had, honest to god, full out temper tantrums. He screamed, he slammed doors, refused to eat or sleep and spent his excess energy in the basement, pounding away at the training dummy in their little makeshift house gym. After his complimentary 24-48 hour hissy fit, he crashed and caved in. Recovery started. He slept like a log, wallowed in passive-aggressive silence for an additional day or two, observed his new-found perspective and usually thanked Shiro for intervening by cooking dinner and making nice over hot chocolate and Uno. The next day, he patched up the training dummy with a generous amount of insulation tape and life resumed its usual course. It’s been a good half a year since Keith had a full-blown episode. He stumbled on occasion, but life was good. Until he met a hobby merman turned marine biologist who yanked his thoughts and emotions around like he was performing a puppet show, all the while not noticing that Keith got tangled up and was now hanging on his strings in a helpless, grotesque manner.

Shiro was still out when he got back. He left his purchases on the counter and curled up on the couch with a sandwich. After he made all the morsels disappear from his plate, he put the dish aside, wiped his hands and retrieved his phone from his pocket. Pulsing ruby light greeted him.

“Lance Mc: You okay? Sorry, I had some stuff to do earlier.” – Probably a vague white lie, but it made him feel a notch better. So, he got to typing.

“Keith K: 2pm works, see you tomorrow.” 

“Lance Mc: Can’t wait! – Needless to say, he slept rather fitfully that night, stomach twisted into a pretzel of anticipation and nerves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Stay tuned for THE date coming up soon... ;)
> 
> Hands up in the comments if you've been on the receiving end of a texter like Lance *sighs, puts ✋ up* OR, if you are the sinner! Don't do half conversations people, it drives us sensitive folk mad!
> 
> Last, but not least:  
If I put a smile on your face, this is what I need you to do: give me kudos, write me comments, consider visiting my Ko-fi page to support me with a cuppa! Thanks a bunch! - RS
> 
> https://ko-fi.com/rockysilence


End file.
